#bill and ted if it was woke. evil bill and ted

[gelarshiesprofruitboarder]

ewwwwwww gross

[shigussy]

had a dream a new bill and ted movie about a evil black sludge that could control minds and puppeteer people was coming out. the trailer dropped and it showed some kinda big industrial tank with the sludge in it and then it started bubbling up and over the sides and ted said "oh no the suss is escaping!" and it was so funny i woke up

[agentnico]

Tenet (2020) Review

Not sure I can like this movie......it made me feel stupid.

Plot: Armed with only one word, Tenet, and fighting for the survival of the entire world, a Protagonist journeys through a twilight world of international espionage on a mission that will unfold in something beyond real time.

The film to save cinema. Or so it is hoped. Christopher Nolan pushed Warner Bros. to stick with the movie’s original July release date for as long as possible (even with the COVID shutdown), and with Nolan being Nolan, Warner Bros. tried to appease him for as long as possible, but in the end Tenet was delayed to come out end of August, with hopes to bring audiences back to the multiplexes for the remainder of the year. First and foremost, having been to the cinemas now, I can assure everyone that it is very much safe to go back to enjoy screenings, as theatres have made all the necessary new precautions to ensure both visitors and employees are safe and protected. However, is Tenet itself worth the cinema visit?

Honestly, I don’t even know. I find myself in quite the perplexing situation where I watched the film, but it feels like I didn’t watch the film, as I legitimately didn’t understand much of what was being throwing on the screen. Mind you, there is a lot being thrown. Christopher Nolan takes full advantage of his $250 million budget (Jesus!) giving us intense action sequences, sprawling James Bond-style locations and so many LOUD NOISES!!! I DON’T KNOW WHAT WE ARE YELLING ABOUT!! Seriously, this movie is one hell of a kicker to the eardrums. If you come out of the cinema deaf, consider yourself lucky, that’s only the first phase. But not only is it loud, as a whole the sound mixing in Tenet is embarrassingly abysmal! Background sounds constantly overplay the dialogue, making most of the speech near inaudible. In addition, Nolan seems to be missing his The Dark Knight trilogy days, by turning every character in Tenet into Tom Hardy’s Bane, wearing masks which causes anything that’s spoken to sound muffled and near impossible to understand. I guess Nolan is unintentionally being with the times, as in our current climate everyone has to wear masks too, however both in reality and in-film, masks garble up lines making any kind of dialogue incomprehensible. Here I thought, I may not understand what someone’s asking me at a shop, but at least I get what this character in the movie is saying. Seems I was wrong then, wasn’t I! Gosh darn it Nolan, you ruined Christmas! And yes, summer ended, get ready for those annoying folk who start Christmas celebrations as early as September. But I digress, the sound editing is terrible and definitely undermines the film’s other technological accomplishments with the massive sets and all-practical effects. That being said, there is a wonderful exchange at one point in the movie between Robert Pattinson’s and John David Washington’s characters.  “Hngmmhmmh,” says Pattinson. “Mmghh nmmhhmmmm nghhh,” replies Washington. Marvellous.

Moving back to the film’s plot though, I don’t get it. From my understanding, the main story thread-line is actually fairly generic, with Denzel Washington’s son discovering a secret organisation that deals with world threats, and he has to go and find some evil dude who does evil things and is very very evil who may be played by a Brit (of course!) who’s doing his best at a Russian accent (double of course!) who happens to have some deadly weapon that is to cause a nuclear war. So you know, typical Bond stuff. However Christopher Nolan chooses to present this story in such a ridiculously convoluted way, that you get confused by the entire shindig even before all the time-travelling weirdness is introduced. Speaking of the time-travelling element, Nolan introduces us to this new inversion gimmick, and don’t get me wrong, I think the concept itself is actually really cool with huge potential if done right, however its execution in this movie leaves us with only questions and no answers, but even with the questions, I don’t even know what said questions are, as I just didn’t get it. Apparently I’m not alone in this, as even one of the film’s stars, Robert Pattinson, was constantly confused by the script, so spent the entire shoot asking his co-star John David Washington to explain everything to him. It literally is an unsolvable puzzle. It kind of seems like Nolan had a dream, and once he woke up, he decided to just go ahead and make the film without understanding all the details himself, with the motto of “I’m Christopher Nolan b**ches!” and of course, he is Nolan, he could make a movie about a toilet seat having feelings and people would still dig that stuff up! 

When it comes to the performances, there isn’t much I can say. All the characters are not given much depth and are quite one-dimensional, so even though both leads Washington and Pattinson are charismatic and likeable, it’s only because I like the actors themselves, not the characters. Same goes for the likes of Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Yesterday’s Himesh Patel, again, all likeable actors, couldn’t tell you anything about their characters. Elizabeth Debicki is the only who’s given at least some minimal layers, being the emotional core of the movie, but then again, she is mainly kept under the damsel-in-distress role throughout. Kenneth Branagh does the evil Bond villain fine, but his reasons for wanting to end the world kind of leave you thinking “is that it?”. Oh, and Michael Caine gets one of the top-billings on the movie’s posters, yet he’s in the film for less than 5 minutes. That must be one of the easiest paychecks ever!

I really wanted to like Tenet. I admire Christopher Nolan as a director and adore his passion for cinema, however this movie didn’t work for me. It’s too intricately complicated, but in a way where it feels like the movie thinks its more clever than it actually is, the sound design and muffled dialogue is atrocious, there’s no character depth and is overall one of Nolan’s weaker outings. Who would’ve thought that the big reason to return to the cinemas would actually be Bill and Ted! 

Overall score: 4/10

[cksmart-world]

The completely unnecessary news analysis

by Christopher Smart

February 16, 2021

MIKE LEE'S GRANDCHILDREN: WHO'S MIKE LEE?

Bob: Man, that takeover of the Capitol on Jan. 6 was sure nasty.

Mike Lee: What takeover?

Bob: You know, the one where a cop got killed and a woman was shot to death.

Mike Lee: I really didn't notice.

Bob: Remember Trump told all his groupies to come to D.C. and then he told thousands of them to march to the Capitol and take back the country from evil Democrats.

Mike Lee: Well, I don't think Trump had anything to do with that. It just kinda happened.

Bob: No, no, no. For two months Trump said the election was stolen and Fox said it was stolen and Trump said come to D.C. on Jan. 6, it will be wild.

Mike Lee: I think that was Antifa and Black Lives Matter. White people wouldn't do that. White people are patriots — at least the Republicans are.

Bob: Didn't you see all the video of the Proud Boys and the Oath Keepers and the Shaman with horns? They were beating on cops and tearing the Capitol to bits. They wanted to hang Mike Pence and Nancy Pelosi.

Mike Lee: Video? What Video?

Bob: Come on, Trump was trying to overthrow our democracy. He called the election rigged and got his groupies frothing at the mouth.

Mike Lee: President Trump is like Abe Lincoln. Maybe he should just take a Mulligan.

Bob: Hey Mike, your unborn grandchildren will disown you. And you deserve it.

“TASTELESS” HOUSEWIVES OF SLC HITS THE BIG TIME

Salt Lake Tribune ace Scott Pierce must be doing backflips now that “The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City” reality TV show is featured in the recent issue of the high-brow New Yorker magazine. Scott likes to keep his readers up to date on every thing those “housewives” are up to. They hang around their McMansions in low-cut cocktail dresses, pearls and spike heels. And when they get together — look out. In one segment Jen Shaw retorts to a slight from Mary Crosby, saying, “Well, you fucked your grandfather.” And it's true: Mary got her family's empire of Pentecostal churches and she's loaded. But to do it she had to marry her dead grandmother's second husband — her own step-grandfather. (You can't make this stuff up.) The foil for a lot of their real lives, of course, is the Mormon church. As Doreen St. Felix writes, Real Housewives of SLC incorporates “cultural politics into the sketchy morality of a guilty pleasure.” No wonder Scott's readers love it. The staff here at Smart Bomb is just guessing, but Scott's columns on “Housewives” probably get more web hits than say a bill pending in the Legislature to relax requirements for cosmetologists. But don't expect anyone at church to bear testimony relating to “Housewives,” 'cause nobody in the ward has ever seen it. Hey Wilson, no laughing.

THOSE DAMN HOMELESS PEOPLE AND THEIR POOP

Why don't they do something about all the homeless people. They say it's all Reagan's fault because he closed mental facilities and slashed the budget for affordable housing. But that was 40 years ago and there're still people with mental illness on the street and no affordable housing. So why doesn't the mayor wave a magic wand and make it go away? Some people say the minimum wage of $7.35 and rents that start at $900 a month make it impossible for low wage earners to make it. But why don't those single moms with little kids just pull themselves up by their bootstraps, like Burgess Owens. There are well over a million homeless Americans and they don't have toilets or trash cans. That's why there's garbage and poop where they camp — even downtown. Some people think they like being homeless so they can live out in the rain and drink warm beer and poop behind dumpsters. Police hassle them 'cause camping is illegal. Ben McAdams and Gary Herbert tried to fix it, but after all that talk, they couldn't. Maybe the problem is bigger than we'd like to admit. Homeless people don't have any pull in Washington, so the next time you step in poop, you might want to wrap it up and send it to Burgess Owens and Chris Stewart. It probably won't help but you'll feel better.

Post script — Holy history. People are going to be writing about this past week for decades to come and it won't be pretty. The president, who had just lost an election, fomented an insurrection in order to stay in office. Of course, Republicans refused to convict him after he was impeached. But like Republican Senate Leader Mitch McConnell said, Trump was absolutely responsible for the rebellion. Then McConnell voted to acquit. So in keeping with the season, the staff here at Smart Bomb is giving it's Marie Antoinette Smartie Award to McConnell for “Eating His Cake and Having It, Too.” For his part in the insurrection, in which he was the first senator who would not certify Joe Biden's election, Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley wins the Jefferson Davis Smartie for stirring insurgency and then retreating to the rear with a smirk of self-righteousness. His sleazy compatriot, Sen. Ted Cruz, just couldn't stay out of the limelight, either. He gets the Aaron Burr Award for his insidious patriotic subterfuge. The staff here at Smart Bomb saved the biggest Smartie of all, the Benedict Arnold Award, for Sen. Lindsay Graham of South Carolina and his ability to kiss Trump's ass even while complementing the Emperor on his New Clothes. Now that's multi-tasking.

Well, Wilson, that was one hell of a week. We know the guys in the band had to seek sedation to stay sane, but tell me they're thinking clearly enough to make some sense of ... whatever this is and play something to help us through these trying times:

Well, did you ever wake up, With them bullfrogs on your mind? Well, did you ever wake up, With them bullfrogs on your mind? You had to sit there laughin', Laughin' just to keep from crying. My mother got em, My father got em, My sister got em, My brother got em. I woke up this morning, My grandmother had them too, Well, don't you know about that, I got the bullfrog blues. Bullfrog

Well, did you ever wake up, With them bullfrogs on your mind? Well, did you ever wake up, With them bullfrogs on your mind? You had to sit there laughin', Laughin' just to keep from crying.

(Bullfrog Blues — Canned Heat)

[theglorydefender]

Ted Theodore Logan imagine x

For anon x

 Woke up this morning feeling super relieved because my spring break officially started. I couldn’t wait to get some rest and get my mind off of school. We have two weeks in total and I’m still not sure how I can use them but I hope I’ll figure something out. I went outside for a little morning walk after breakfast while planning the day in my head. As I was walking something just flew past me and almost hit me so I lost my balance but somehow managed to keep my feet on the ground.

“Dude you almost hit the girl!” I heard a familiar voice say as I turned around to see what was going on. It was one of my classmates Bill who rushed outside of his garage with his friend Ted.

“I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to! We were just practicing and I-” Ted started apologizing..

“Wait wow ok slow down, what was that thing that almost hit me?”

“It was a drumstick..I was just messing with it but I had no idea It’ll go that far! I’m really sorry!”

“Hey it’s ok Ted, don’t worry” I said noticing how uncomfortable and nervous he felt.

Ted was also one of my classmates, he never really had the best grades but I think it’s because he’s focusing more on his band than school but overall, he’s a really sweet guy. We’ve talked a few times and even worked in the same group for our science class but he would always appear a bit shy, or even awkward around me. Not sure why but I always thought it was cute. He’s pretty tall, one of the tallest boys in my class and mind you, one of the cutest. I’ve never said that to anyone but I think he’s a really cute guy. I‘ve always loved the way he would make his hair all fluffy and every time he would move it around a bit I swear it would smell like spring. And every time we would talk his eyes would get all big and sparkly and he would just listen to me very carefully, like he wanted to absorb every word. I don’t know but there was something about him..Not sure if I could call it a crush but after our awkward encounter today, I might.

*in Bill’s garage*

“Dude you gotta ask her out!”

“But Bill, I can’t! What if she says no?”

“Ted, if she says no it means she’s missing out on the most bodacious guy out there”

“Yes Bill but, why would she go out with me?”

“Why wouldn’t she ?”

“Well, I don’t know, I mean, I’m not the smartest guy out there and, I don’t play any sports and..you know that chicks like guys who play sports and-”

“Dude..listen. We’re graduating this year, you’ve had a crush on her since we were freshmen! You gotta ask her out, this is your last chance..”

“Ok..but how ? Dude..you gotta help me out”

“Well, I’m not the greatest ladies man either but, why don’t you ask her to come over ? You guys could have a movie night or something. Oh and, pick a horror, she would totally want you to protect her from those evil ugly dudes on tv”

“Ok..I think I’m gonna do that. I just hope I’ll get the chance soon. Thanks Bill my friend”

“You’re most welcome Ted my friend”

I got back from my morning walk and did some chores since my parents are out of town for two days. Maybe I should go to the record store or something..yeah I’ll totally do that, I mean is there a better way to spend an afternoon ? I made my way downtown hoping to find some new editions from my favorite bands. As I walked in I saw Ted standing alone in front of the Rock & Roll section checking Van Halen as usual.

“Hey Ted!”

“Oh hi! How are you ? Look, I’m really sorry about what happened today! I’m such an idiot..”

“Hey, no hard feelings. I’m all good so don’t worry about that ok?”

“Yeah..hey umm..I was wondering, maybe you’d..I mean..are you busy tonight ?”

“No..not really. Why?”

“Well, maybe you would..want to catch a movie or something ? You can come over, I have some great movies”

I definitely started feeling nervous at this point because, not only did he look adorable and ask me out, but he literally invited me over to his place.

“You know what, I’d love to! What time ?” the color of his cheeks was pretty much all shades of red because he probably didn’t expect me to say yes but there was no way that I’d refuse this.

“Oh cool! Let’s say..8 ?”

“I’ll be there”

We parted ways and I went straight home and started getting ready even though it was only 5:30 but I’m going at Ted’s house so I gotta look my best. The time has come and it was 7:30 already so I decided to make my way to his place. He greeted me with a smile, too shy to give me a hug but I couldn’t blame him. I was nervous as well. We started watching this horror movie that he picked and honestly, it was one of the scariest I had ever seen but I was trying to play it cool. Half an hour into the movie I started noticing that he would tense a bit or turn around but it was probably because he was nervous, after all, this was the closest we’ve ever been next to each other. Suddenly, I got really scared and grabbed his hand which made him turn around quickly.

“Hey you ok ?”

“Yeah..it’s just..really scary..” I continued holding his hand which he didn’t seem to mind since I’ve noticed a little smile form on his lips. A few minutes after, another scary scene just happened and I literally jumped on his lap because it scared the hell out of me! I instinctively put my arms around his neck and he just stared at me in awe. I looked at him feeling a bit awkward because I just did that when I heard him whisper “It’s ok..I’m here”. He hesitated for a few seconds but then slowly moved a bit forward and kissed me. I decided to follow and we kissed for a few minutes. I didn’t really have much experience with boys and kissing but he made it seem so easy, he was so careful and I was completely lost in the moment. After some time we pulled apart and he had the cutest shy smile on his face.

“Well, that was..nice” I said “It..umm..sure was..so..wanna watch another movie tomorrow ?” he said and we both started laughing but we sure knew damn well that we were gonna watch another movie tomorrow.

Bonus gif for extra feels:

[codaskip]

i meant to watched haunted summer last night but i ended up watching excellent adventure and then accidentally watching bogus journey twice ??? 

[savetopnow]

2018-03-31 10 MUSIC now

MUSIC

Brooklyn Vegan

Albert Hammond Jr played Brooklyn Steel, brought out Hinds (pics, setlist)

Drive-By Truckers & Erika Wennerstrom @ Brooklyn Bowl (night 1 pics, review)

tours announced: The Garden, Nicki Bluhm, Follakzoid, Dave Hause & more

James Murphy & Soulwax began 3-night Despacio party residency (review/playlist)

Big Thief debut new songs in great live video; Buck Meek shares new song too

Consquence of Sound

Album Review: Royce da 5’9” and DJ Premier Embrace the Next Generation on PRhyme 2

Bill & Ted sequel is closer than ever: “Hopefully within the next month, we’ll have news”

Cameron Diaz says she has officially retired from acting

The Roseanne revival has already been renewed for a second season

Arnold Schwarzenegger woke up from open-heart surgery and said: “I’m back”

Fact Magazine

Carl Craig and more feature in Plastic Dreams, a book documenting the ’90s Paris club scene

Relaxer unveils debut album A Family Disease, releases 22-minute track

Watch a beautiful documentary about Ryuichi Sakamoto’s tsunami-damaged piano

Tom Misch – Against The Clock

Soho Rezanejad is the daring Dane blending darkwave drones and intense philosophy

Fluxblog

Shower Me In Symphonies

Fifth-Dimensional Views

Late Night Games

The Middle Of A Cold Premonition

The Moon Right Behind Me

Idolator

Miley Cyrus Is A Sexy Easter Bunny In ‘Vogue:’ 15 Pics

The Drop: Your Guide To New Music Friday Featuring Tove Lo & The Palms

Tinashe Hits The Courts In Her Vibrant “Me So Bad” Video

Lady Gaga Pays Tribute To Elton John With Her Rousing “Your Song” Cover

Cardi B Warns A Straying Lover To “Be Careful” On Her New Mid-Tempo

Listen to This

Star Slinger - Elizabeth Fraser (Cocteau Twins Rework) [chillwave/dream pop] (2010)

Circus-P - Breathe (With DEX) [Vocaloid/electronic] (2017)

Oh He Dead -- Blood in the Water [indie/rock] [2018]

Yousei Teikoku -- Schwarzer Sarg [Japanese Gothic Metal] (2008)

MODERNS - Jarre [synthpop]

Popjustice

New Music Good Friday: Post Precious! Dragonette! CHVRCHES!

NONONO’s new one is v excellent and here’s the video

New Music Friday: all hail Let’s Eat Grandma’s miniature pop symphony

Paloma Faith’s branded content is better than your branded content

Saluting the artwork for PRETTYMUCH’s Healthy

Reddit Music

Weird Al Yankovic covers Billy Idol's Rebel Yell

BROCKHAMPTON signs with RCA Records

Hey /r/music. I made a new music streaming service in your browser that uses songs from YouTube!

The story of Rock music (and what does the future hold?)

Most evil, dark, heavy, disturbing music

Rolling Stone

Watch Neil Young Revisit 'Peace Trail' for New 'Paradox' Video

Watch SZA's Summer Camp-Set 'Broken Clocks' Video

Watch 'Weird Al' Yankovic Scream Through Billy Idol's 'Rebel Yell'

Florence and the Machine, Janet Jackson to Headline 2018 FYF Festival

Review: Kacey Musgraves, Ashley McBryde and Nashville's Powerful Woman-Led Renaissance

Slipped Disc

Sicklist: Murray Perahia cancels US spring tour

Can I still play the old Curtis way?

Breaking: Dude goes to Uni

A Furtwängler returns to the Berlin Philharmonie

Death of an old-school Russian violinist, 80

Spotify Blog

The Weeknd Drops Two New Music Videos Only on Spotify

Taylor Swift’s New Delicate Video Only on Spotify

Spotify Expands Secret Genius With the Launch of Studios

Spotify and Genius Team Up to Launch Déjà Vu Podcast, Hosted by Stereo Williams

Spotify Celebrates Black History Year-Round with Launch of Black History Is Happening Now

We Are the Music Makers

my song was placed in a Spotify curated playlist, now what?

First world problem: I have so many different instruments and I don’t have enough practice time for all of them

What do you post on your other social media sites?

A few questions about audio interface options for iPad.

A Kraftwerk inspired virtual instrument

[silklyon]

Page of Text for Lisa Ann Corpora by Alexander William Erickson

Lisa, I am doing a major writing project on the Bobby Bones website; eventually there is a published version of all of my communication.  This is organization and planning you want to remove judgment.  You examine the content like watching a ballerina perform in ripped medical scrubs for an audition.  This is one page wall of text I wrote for you last night as I fell asleep and this morning as I woke up. // June 25, 2018 11:17 PM Pacific Standard Time Black on Black Typing for Lisa Ann  Corpora.  Lisa is one of my favorite models as she maintains a commitment to the lingerie lifestyle.  There is a togetherness with her look that gives me confidence  when I consider trying to advance with her in my life.  What I find most unique and annoying about her is her minds strength to continue a mathematical algorithm in a language coded pattern for intergalactic mapping and because i am interrogating her with this method she never uses the same language three times in any correct way.  You enjoy the conversation until the conclusion and realize that she told you something that was a mapped location like I puzzle with words.  I cannot see my words on this black on black screen.  The post about her today that language gave me a strong feedback  about being able to communicate with her.  I was busy believing in the structured set of lies that were presented to me in the middle of 2005, thirteen years ago.  I was studying liars all around me and picking up their habits and deploying new versions as my own.  Lying was second nature to me in terms life live conversational communication.  The thought of lying on  a prolonged basis about future past tense agendas items had never occurred to me.  What do I mean?  I mean that while I would lie to anyone to their face I would not say... rather, I would and will always create plans that I genuinely want to organize and complete.533AMPST June 26, 2018 Good Morning Lisa Ann, I gather you want 150 love notes.   Right now we have  a few Bobby Bones packages that I am working on that slowly bring you up as part of the characters in my life's mind while I develop my career.  /// 5:35 AM PST June 26, 2018 Dear Lisa Ann, I work organically, what that means to me is that I do not study my subjects intently  with my eyes.  Yes, you are a favorite model of mine and I love your look.  Women communicate differently than oral verbal communication and you communicate to me a value that is beyond most peoples level of intellect.  Like I wrote earlier briefly, when your brain got paired with Stehpan Hawking I found the common ground that both of you shared as a failure point: you both loved to confuse people with your mapping languages.  I miss Stephen Hawking, you hear about technology and the potential for things to protect an sustain life, and you imagine this hyperbolic relationship that fills real time voids.  I would watch a history channel story about Big Foot and Stephan Hawking would tell me his commentary and provide me encouragement.  He always encouraged me.  He always told me to envelop the problem with a ..... He wanted to make sure I was not a fuck up as scientist.  He was fuck up as a scientist.  WHen it was time to listen to Stephen Hawking he found himself irritable and stand offish.  And he feared that I would miss out by dismissing someone that had finally arrived.  That is why I think I disciplined myself with my communication to you and the resulting loyalty test that is not the standard loyalty test.    The report o you Lisa is that you are your own pimp.    And what that means to me is that every three to six  months or so your Maybach will tweak your body a little bit and then you will be walking around me expecting to know what to do with the Lisa Ann titty titty strutty strutty situation.  My plan is called, well I told you the plan before, no reason to get into the details in the Black and The White.  .    Communications is a much more spread spectrum complex topic than I had surmised when I began studying my own decoding of communications into my brain.  I am exhausted from the beckoning of women and not ever being able to conclude value or waste.  There is an evil element afoot that desires to thwart my progress through brain wave interference.  I have been fighting this mental battle this mental warfare for four years now I and I am finally developing and delivering product that is certainly on par with my expectations.  I know that the letters to you with the Bobby Bones website was not that impressive, with the way computers work for me on my planet of existence at this time; its the most effective way I can communicate.    By my bed are three books The Hagakure, the Way of the Samurai, GHENGHIS The Birth of an Empire, and The Great Shark Hunt by Hunter S. Thompson.  GHENGHIS I continue to read slowly not deciding if I am committed to the read through.  There is is family of boys and one is getting sent off to another tribe to be mated to woman he has not met.  And so far its a setup that seems unimaginable to produce the warrior of history and of Bill and TEd's Excellent Adventure.  We have not met a character named Ghengis yet so the pages turn slow.  I have read the first half of the Hagakure, my belief is that after that it becomes more of a Way of The Shogun warrior and all the Samurai died out because of failing shoguns.  No conclusion, Signed Sincerely, Alexander

[gelarshiesprofruitboarder]

no way…..

[nebris]

Donald Trump Was the Inevitable Result of Republicanism

A few thoughts on Woke Bill Kristol.

In 1997, a California neurologist named Stanley Prusiner won the Nobel Prize in Medicine for his discovery of prions and the role that prions play in a number of severe neurological ailments, including “mad cow” disease and kuru, a disease found among the tribes of New Guinea that is spread by cannibalism. Prions are infectious proteins and, at the time Prusiner first announced his findings, much of the scientific community expressed doubts that simple proteins could be infectious agents. A lot of very smart people scoffed at the notion of a prion disease.

It has long been a contention at this shebeen that the Republican Party—and the conservative movement, which is its only animating life force—acquired a prion disease when Ronald Reagan first fed it the monkeybrains of supply-side economics and Protestant splinter theology back in the early 1980s. Prion diseases, like kuru, are progressive. The early symptoms can be as inconspicuous as a patient’s halting gate, or a citizen’s voting against his interests. The disease progresses and the high functions are eaten away until the patient is paralyzed and dies. I think, with the election of the president*, the Republicans may have drifted into the terminal stage.

The other day, I was watching MSNBC and host Nicolle Wallace compared the Trump campaign unfavorably with “the 2004 Bush campaign that Steve [Schmidt, one of her current MSNBC colleagues] and I worked on.” On the electric Twitter machine, I reminded everyone that the 2004 campaign on which Wallace looked back so fondly happened to be the one in which the Republican parties "gay-baited" the issue of marriage equality with referenda in several critical states, and the one in which John Kerry’s authentic wartime heroism was repeatedly slandered. For this, other folks on the electric Twitter machine took exception to what I said, arguing, not unreasonably, that Wallace and Schmidt are valuable allies now in the resistance to the doings down at Camp Runamuck.  

Then, on Wednesday, my man Chuck Todd hosted on his panel another former Bush aide named Sara Taylor Fagen. That name rang a bell and, after consulting with Dr. P. Henry Google, the shebeen’s director of research, I was reminded that she had played a central role in one of the Bush administration’s most odious episodes: the complete politicization of the Department of Justice, and the firing of seven U.S. Attorneys because they wouldn’t gin up fake voter-fraud crimes on behalf of the White House political operation. In fact, she was rather central to the whole thing.

From ThinkProgress:  

In the first exchange, Taylor writes to Kyle Sampson, Alberto Gonzales’ former chief of staff, and suggests retribution against Cummins for speaking out about the reason for his firing: I normally don’t like attacking our friends, but since Bud Cummins is talking to everyone — why don’t we tell the deal on him? In another set of emails from Feb. 16, Taylor again writes Sampson, complaining about how Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty and the Justice Department put Griffin in a “horrible position…hung to dry” by admitting that Cummins was pushed out specifically to make room for an ally of Rove. “[T]his is not good for [Griffin’s] long-term career,” Taylor writes.

And, in recent days, we have seen the release of David Frum’s new book, Trumpocracy: The Corruption of the American Republic, and also that of Charlie Sykes, How The Right Lost Its Mind. And, on Thursday, tout les Toobz was buzzing about an interview given by Butcher Bill Kristol to John Harwood of CNBC, in which Kristol pulls the full Louis Renaud on the racism and wingnuttiness that he’s suddenly discovered at the Fox News Channel.

I was on Fox for 10 years really, 2002 to 2012. I think it was pretty good. It was a little tilted right? Sure. Now Fox is sort of — 75 percent of it seems to be birther-like coverage of different issues. That's been, I think, bad. And you put that together with the social media and the segmentation of everyone into bubbles, and I think there's some truth to that criticism.  

I am unsettled by this phenomenon for two reasons. First, it would be a severe crime against history to allow the catastrophic Trump presidency* to wash from our memory the disastrous presidency of George W. Bush. Not 20 years ago, Frum was writing books with geopolitical goon Richard Perle (An End To Evil), and on his own with titles like, The Right Man: The Surprise Presidency of George W. Bush. (I’m certain that people in the Lower Ninth Ward of New Orleans were surprised to learn that Bush was president, having seen little evidence of that when they needed to see it.) Kristol was sitting with Ted Koppel and assuring the country that:

One would always prefer to have more allies rather than fewer. And I think we actually will have lots of help in the reconstruction and democratization, actually, of Iraq. But, look, I think what we've learned over the last ten years is that America has to lead. Other countries won't act. They will follow us, but they won't do it on their own. And in this case, I think we'll be vindicated when we discover the weapons of mass destruction and when we liberate the people of Iraq.  

(Meanwhile, in Wisconsin, Charlie Sykes was on the radio, laying the groundwork for the rise of people like Scott Walker and Paul Ryan.)  

But my most serious reservation is that the dynamic being engaged by these wandering spirits tends to make the inevitable an anomaly. The prion disease has been at work for decades and Trump is just one of its most egregious symptoms. Earlier ones include the strangulation of the nomination of Merrick Garland, the nomination of Sarah Palin, the disinformation regarding Iraq, the U.S. Attorney scandal, the Great Penis Hunt of 1998, TravelGate, FileGate, Whitewater, Iran-Contra, supply-side economics, and the ensemble encroaching on the institutions of government by organized plutocracy and organized theocracy. All of these things, large and small, led inexorably to the presidency* of someone like Donald Trump.  

That presidency*, believe it or not, one day will end, and, when it does, the country cannot be allowed to go back to the status quo ante. The damage done by this presidency* can’t be swept out of the national memory the way the damage done by the last Republican president has been. The Republican Party has to be purged of the prion disease, all of it. Because the prion disease has sickened the entire nation now. The progress of the disease is now so advanced that the Republican powers within the national legislature are unable to check the powers of a president* that a good portion of the country believes shouldn’t be within 200 miles of the White House, a form of ideological enfeeblement that may be the final stages of the disease. That there are people who were involved in the disease’s earlier stages who are unnerved now seems to me to be yet another manifestation of it. At least, with kuru, the cannibalism comes at the beginning. 

http://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/a15886291/trump-republican-prion-disease/

[savetopnow]

2018-03-31 07 MUSIC now

MUSIC

Brooklyn Vegan

tours announced: The Garden, Nicki Bluhm, Follakzoid, Dave Hause & more

James Murphy & Soulwax began 3-night Despacio party residency (review/playlist)

Big Thief debut new songs in great live video; Buck Meek shares new song too

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FYF Fest 2018 lineup (MBV, Janet, St Vincent, Florence, Future, The xx, more)

Consquence of Sound

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The Roseanne revival has already been renewed for a second season

Arnold Schwarzenegger woke up from open-heart surgery and said: “I’m back”

Win Butler on Arcade Fire’s Everything Now: “If that’s the worst thing we can possibly do then I’m at peace”

Fact Magazine

Carl Craig and more feature in Plastic Dreams, a book documenting the ’90s Paris club scene

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Tom Misch – Against The Clock

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Fluxblog

Shower Me In Symphonies

Fifth-Dimensional Views

Late Night Games

The Middle Of A Cold Premonition

The Moon Right Behind Me

Idolator

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The Drop: Your Guide To New Music Friday Featuring Tove Lo & The Palms

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Lady Gaga Pays Tribute To Elton John With Her Rousing “Your Song” Cover

Cardi B Warns A Straying Lover To “Be Careful” On Her New Mid-Tempo

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Matt Pless - The Crayon Song [folk / indie] (2018) A Fistful of Vinyl sessions ~ A song about toxic relationships and dependence

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Step Rockets — Phantom Flower (Sunglasses Kid Remix) [Indietronica/Synthpop] (2015)

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New Music Good Friday: Post Precious! Dragonette! CHVRCHES!

NONONO’s new one is v excellent and here’s the video

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Hey /r/music. I made a new music streaming service in your browser that uses songs from YouTube!

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Most evil, dark, heavy, disturbing music

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Slipped Disc

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Spotify Blog

The Weeknd Drops Two New Music Videos Only on Spotify

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PSA: PROTECT YOUR EARS